Double coiling arrangement, particularly for metal wire



July 4, 1967 J. GONGUET 3,329,361

DOUBLE COILING ARRANGEMENT, PARTICULARLY FOR METAL WIRE Filed Dec. 21, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet. 1

MOTOR WITH LESS POWER THAN MOTOR l2 July 4, 1967 J. GONGUET 3,329,361

DOUBLE COILING ARRANGEMENT, PARTICULARLY FOR METAL WIRE Filed Dec. 21. 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet y 3 1967 J. GONGUET 3,329,361

DOUBLE COILING ARRANGEMENT, PARTICULARLY FOR METAL WIRE Filed Dec. 21. 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 United States Patent 6 Claims. (a. 242-25 The invention relates to a double coiling arrangement, particuraly for coiling metal wire.

Conventional double coiling arrangements as at pres ent used in the art of metal wire drawing generally comprise two reels located side by side, each reel only being used for half the time :during which the machine is in operation.

It is, in fact, necessary to begin to rotate the empty reel while the full reel is still being rotated so as to synchronize the rotation of the two reels and to transfer coiling from the full to the empty reel without interrupting coiling of the wire. At the same time, since the speed of rotation of the empty reel is dilferent from the of the full reel, it has become customary to drive each of the reels by means of a motor coupled to the driving spindle of the reel by means of a clutch and a gear box, the size of which depends upon the power of the motor.

The conventional arrangement thus involves two units which are particularly costly and are only used for part of the time.

In order to simplify the conventional arrangement, it is an object of the invention to make use of an auxiliary shaft driven by an auxiliary motor of less power which ensures that the empty reel begins to rotate before it is engaged with the main shaft, after the wire has been It is a further object of the invention to provide an I arrangement which utilizes only one main driving unit composed of a motor, a clutch and a gear box and an auxiliary arrangement with a motor of less power and a variable gear, and is thus cheaper although enabling the same coiling operations to be effected as is possible with a conventional arrangement.

Moreover, the gear box enables optimum use to be made of the clutch according to the variations in speed and the different reels. At the same time when reels are arranged opposite each other so that their axes are in alignment, they may be removed easily without it being necessary to move any mechanical parts.

Accordingly the invention is directed to a double coiling arrangement, in which first and second reels are located opposite each other so that their axes are in alignment, and on which reels the wire may be selectively coiled. A driving shaft of a main motor is connected to a main shaft by means of a main clutch and a gear box, the said main shaft being selectively couplable with the spindles of the two reels by means of two main clutch members which cooperate with two transmission members arranged between the main shaft and the spindles of the two reels. In order to permit the reels to be rotated together, one of the reels is driven by the main motor and the other reel is driven by an auxiliary driven shaft which is couplable selectively to the spindles of the two reels by means of two auxiliary clutch members.

In a modification, the auxiliary motor is omitted and the auxiliary shaft is driven by the main shaft through a clutch.

In another embodiment of the invention the motor or motors may be replaced by a mechanical drive transmitted from the machine of the previous stage, which may be a wire-drawing machine.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which show several embodiments of the invention by way of example, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of a coiling arrangement and its drive,

FIGURE 2 shows a view of the coiling arrangement shown in FIGURE 1 with a slightly modified drive unit,

FIGURE 3 shows a view of the coiling arrangement when one of the reels is being coiled,

' FIGURE 4 shows a view of the coiling arrangement when coiling has been completed on one reel and coiling is being commenced on the other reel,

FIGURE 5 shows a view of the coiling arrangement when the full reel is at rest and the empty reel is being coiled, and

FIGURE 6 shows a further embodiment of the coiling arrangement. The double coiling arrangement according to the invention which is shown in FIGURE 1 is composed of two reels 1a and 1b located opposite each other so that their driving spindles 2a, 2b are in exact alignment on the same axis.

Pulleys 6a, 6b, which may be of any type, are keyed to spindles 2a, 2b which are connected to pulleys 7a, 7b by means of belts 8a, 8b. The pulleys 7a, 7b which are mounted idly on a main shaft 9, are able to be driven in rotation by means of clutch members 10a, 10b and the shaft 9, the clutch members being rotatable together. The shaft 9 is coupled in a conventional manner to the output shaft of a gear box 11, the input shaft of which is driven by a main motor 12, by means of a main clutch 13.

The main motor 12 is sufficiently powerful to drive both reels 1a, 1b throughout the coiling operation.

Brake members 3a, 3b are arranged near the pulleys 7a, 7b so as to be able to act thereon. An auxiliary motor 14 of lower power than the main motor drives an auxiliary shaft 15 by means of a conventional variable gear 16, the auxiliary shaft 15 carrying two clutch members 17a, 17b which are keyed to the said shaft. Pulleys 18a, 18b mounted idly on the shaft 15 may be driven in rotation by the shaft 15 through the clutch members 17a 17b. The pulleys 20a, 20b, which are keyed to the spindles 2a, 2b of the reels 1a, 1b, are connected to the pulleys 18a, 18b by means of belts 19a, 19b.

In the embodiment described above, the auxiliary shaft 15 is used to drive the reels 1a, 1b from the auxiliary motor 14, but it is also possible to simplify the arrangement and use the main shaft 9 as a counter-shaft between the auxiliary shaft 15 and the spindles 2a, 2b of the reels, as is shown in FIGURE 2.

In this embodiment of the invention, the drive for the reels 1a, 1b is still conveyed through the shaft 9 from the main motor 12. The pulleys 18a, 18b are keyed to the auxiliary shaft 15 and rotate the auxiliary clutch members 25a, 25b through the belts 19a, 19b, the clutch members being mounted idly on the main shaft 9 and couplable selectively with the pulleys 7a, 7b.

The brake members 3a, 3b are located near the pulleys 6a, 6b on the spindles 2a, 2b and are able to act on the pulleys to brake the reels 1a, 1b.

The coiling arrangement operates as follows:

When the reel 1a (FIGURE 3) is being coiled, the main shaft 9 is rotated by the motor 12 through the clutch 13 and the gear 11, and the clutch 10a is in engagement with the pulley 7a which thus rotates with the shaft and acts through the transmission 8a to drive the pulley a and thus the reel 1a. The auxiliary motor 14 is thus 1130131366. and the clutch members b, 17a and 17b are released.

When the reel 1a is fully coiled (FIGURE 4) and is still being rotated as described above, the reel 1b is rotated ay coupling the clutch 17b and the pulley 18b and starting up the auxiliary motor 14 which acts through the variable gear 16 to drive the shaft and the pulley 18b which in turn drives the pulley b through the belt 191;.

The speed of rotation of the reel 1b is pre-set by means of the variable gear 16 to ensure that the speed of the empty reel 1b matches that of the full reel 1a.

This variable gear enables the speed of the empty reel 1b to be adjusted to different wire speeds and different types of reels. It does not have any effect from the moment at which the reel 1b begins to rotate and the moment at which the plate 17b is released from the pulley 1817, since the speed does not vary during this time.

Once the wire has been fed from reel 1a to reel 112 (FIGURE 5), the clutch member 10a is declutched from the pulley 7a and the reel 1a is braked by means of the brake member 3a acting on the pulley 7a until the reel 1a has stopped rotating.

Since the reel 1b is still being driven by the auxiliary motor 14, the speed of the shaft 9 is increased through the clutch 13 until the clutch 10b reaches the speed of the pulley 7b and the clutch member 10b can be engaged without slipping with the pulley 7b, when the clutch 17b is released. The reel 1b is then driven :by the main shaft 9 and the main motor 12.

It is then only necessary to deenergize the auxiliary motor 14 to enable the reel 1a to be rotated once again so as to draw the wire from the reel 1b to the reel 1a as described above.

Accordingto another embodiment of the invention shown in FIGURE 6, the auxiliary motor 14 and the variable gear 16'are omitted and the auxiliary shaft 15 is rotated by means of a pulley 21 keyed to the main shaft 9 which cooperates with a pulley 22 by means of a transmission 23. The permanent rotation of the pulley 21 is transmitted to the auxiliary shaft 15 via a clutch 24 which is actuated simultaneously with the initial rotation of one of the reels 1a or 1b. This clutch 24 also enables the speed of the reel 1a or 1b to be maintained constant during no-load acceleration of the main shaft '9, thus having the same function as the unit composed of t e auxiliary motor 14 and the variable gear 16.

What is claimed is:

1. A double coiling arrangement comprising: two rotatable reels located opposite each other with their axes of rotation in alignment, said reels being adapted for having wire selectively coiled thereon, spindles for said reels for driving the same in rotation, a main motor having a driving shaft, a main shaft, a main clutch and a gear box connecting said driving shaft and said main shaft, two additional clutch members on said main shaft and two transmissions between respective additional clutch members and spindles of said reels whereby said main shaft may be selectively coupled in driving relation with said spindles of said reels, an auxiliary driven shaft and auxiliary clutch means for drivingly connecting the auxiliary driven shaft with said spindles of the reels.

2. A double coiling arrangement as claimed in claim 1, comprising an auxiliary motor, and a variable gear connecting the auxiliary motor to the auxiliary shaft for the driving of the latter, whereby one reel can be driven from the main motor and the other reel from the auxiliary motor.

3. A double coiling arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the auxiliary clutch means comprises auxiliary clutch members mounted idly on the main shaft and two auxiliary transmissions connecting the auxiliary shaft and the auxiliary clutch members on the main shaft.

4. A double coiling arrangement as claimed in claim 1, comprising means for selectively driving the auxiliary shaft from the main shaft, said auxiliary clutch means comprising auxiliary clutch members mounted on the auxiliary shaft and two auxiliary transmissions between respective auxiliary clutch members and spindles of said reels.

5. A double coiling arrangement as claimed in claim 4, wherein the auxiliary shaft and the main shaft are driven by a drive transmitted from a machine of a previous stage.

6. A double coiling arrangement as claimed in claim 1, comprising brake members mounted on the main shaft for acting on the transmissions.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,193,190 11/1959 Berthold 242-25 2,946,527 7/1960 Ellis 242-25 FRANK J. COHEN, Primary Examiner.

L. N. MINTZ, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A DOUBLE COILING ARRANGEMENT COMPRISING: TWO ROTATABLE REELS LOCATED OPPOSITE EACH OTHER WITH THEIR AXES OF ROTATION IN ALIGNMENT, SAID REELS BEING ADAPTED FOR HAVING WIRE SELECTIVELY COILED THEREON, SPINDLES FOR SAID REELS FOR DRIVING THE SAME IN ROTATION, A MAIN MOTOR HAVING A DRIVING SHAFT, A MAIN SHAFT, A MAIN CLUTCH AND A GEAR BOX CONNECTING SAID DRIVING SHAFT AND SAID MAIN SHAFT, TWO ADDITIONAL CLUTCH MEMBERS ON SAID MAIN SHAFT AND TWO TRANSMISSIONS BETWEEN RESPECTIVE ADDITIONAL CLUTCH MEMBERS AND SPINDLES OF SAID REELS WHEREBY SAID MAIN SHAFT MAY BE SELECTIVELY COUPLED IN DRIVING RELATION WITH SAID SPINDLES OF SAID REELS, AN AUXILIARY DRIVEN SHAFT AND AUXILIARY CLUTCH MEANS FOR DRIVINGLY CONNECTING THE AUXILIARY DRIVEN SHAFT WITH SAID SPINDLES OF THE REELS. 